The present invention relates to polyarylene ether terminated with an ester linked cycloalkene, such as a norbornene, and to polyarylene ether-polyalkenamer copolymers obtained therefrom.
Prior to the present invention, copolymers of polyphenylene ether and polyalkenamers elastomers could be made by extruding a commercially available polyarylene ether, such as, GE's PPO.RTM. resin, having Mannich end groups, with a preformed polyoctenamer (VESTENAMER) of the Huls Company, Marl, West Germany. Grafting of the unsaturated polyoctenamer polymer to the polyarylene ether is believed to occur through the Mannich end groups.
Alternative procedures for making polyarylene ether-polyalkenamer copolymers are constantly being sought by the plastics industry. The ring opening polymerization of various cyclic monomers, such as norbornene, and cyclooctene, has been used to prepare various unsaturated polymers, such as porynorbornene (NORSOREX, CDF Chimie) and polyoctenamer utilizing ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP). Attempts to prepare polyarylene ether-polyalkenamer block copolymers by ROMP procedures have thus far been unsuccessful.
A possible explanation as to why in situ-ring opening metathesis have been unsuccessful for making polyarylene ether - polyalkenamer copolymers is that the employment of a polyarylene ether having Mannich end groups interferes with the ring-opening metathesis reaction.